Best Hearing Aids for High Frequency Hearing Loss

If you’re one of the approximately 38 million Americans who suffer from hearing loss, there is a very good chance that your hearing loss is “high-frequency” in nature. In short, this means that your high frequency hearing is what is damaged, and that it will often sound like people are mumbling or slurring their words. In addition, many people with high frequency hearing losses have a hard time hearing clearly in the presence of background noise. High frequency hearing loss is the most common type of loss, and chances are it is how your loss can be characterized.

There are all different styles of hearing aids, for all different types of hearing losses and lifestyles. Some hearing aids are better for certain types of losses than others. In the case of high frequency losses, it is very widely accepted that open-fit hearing aids are the best. Open-fit hearing aids (as the name implies), do not utilize a custom earmold, instead, there is a little rubber dome which sits pretty freely in your ear and leaves it feeling “open.” This setup allows low frequency sounds to pass through the ear canal largely unaltered, while only amplifying the high frequency sounds that you are missing. As a result, open-fit hearing aids end up feeling (and sounding) much more comfortable, and also leave the wearer with much less occlusion.

So to the burning question:

What hearing aids are best for high frequency hearing loss?

Answering this question is not so straightforward, because the best hearing aid will vary depending on your needs. Howevere, there are a few really well reviewed hearing aids that I would recommend for folks with vibrant, or calm lifestyles.

Widex Dream 440

Best hearing aid for high frequency losses and vibrant lifestyles

Widex Dream 440 RIC
Several hearing aids could also take this title, but this one happens to be my favorite. I love the way Widex hearing aids are built and they always seem to fit people’s ears perfectly. In addition, Widex has a number of great accessories available, and every client I’ve met that uses them loves them. Widex is one of the oldest hearing aid manufacturers in the world, they build really good quality products, and they have distributors in almost every city in the US- so it’s not hard to find support for them. I’ve also written quite a bit about this hearing before, and you can review my experience fitting this hearing aid here. The Dream 440 is a 15 channel, 5 program hearing aid, which includes a great Zen program, so if you suffer from tinnitus this program will provide some relief.

Below is a short commercial Widex made which features the Dream family of products

Unitron Moxi² 10

Best hearing aid for high frequency losses and calm lifestyles

Unitron Moxi² 10
It should go without saying by now, that of course several hearing aids could tie for #1 in this category, I just really like the flexibility that Unitron gives patients with this hearing aid, and here’s why. Most of the time, if you lead a “calm” lifestyle, an entry level hearing aid will be just fine for you. However, there are cases where someone may lead a calm lifestyle, but only be satisfied with premium technology, and this could be for a number of reasons. The nice thing about the Moxi² line of products is something called the Flex:trial. This is a new concept in the hearing aid industry, and I think it’s really neat. Traditionally when you buy a hearing aid, you choose the “technology level” at the time you order the aids, and of course, that’s what you get on delivery. However, if you’re not happy with the hearing aids, you’ll need to send them back and get them replaced with a higher technology level. With the Flex:trial, this hassle is avoided. When you order hearing aids from your provider, they get shipped a standard device, and then the hearing provider assigns the technology level at the time of the fitting through programming. This means that if you aren’t happy with your hearing aids at first blush, you can simply go in for a quick appointment and get a higher technology level programmed in to the aids. So you can start off the the Moxi² 10, which is classified as an entry to mid-level hearing aid, and if you’re not satisfied, you can quickly upgrade.

Below is a brief video testimonial (by Unitron), of the Flex:trial system

If you’d like a free phone consultation with a licensed hearing provider, please feel free to call us at 800-731-6794.